Barker Battles Into British Open Quarters

Essex's Peter Barker ensured that there will be English interest in all but one of the quarter-finals in the Dunlop British Open after pulling off an impressive upset over No7 seed Wael El Hindi in the second round of the world-renowned event at the National Squash Centre at Sportcity in Manchester.

The 23-year-old left-hander dropped the first two games against El Hindi. But 12th seed Barker, who had never before beaten the Egyptian, fought back to take the match 9-11, 3-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 in 72 minutes to earn a place in the event's last eight for the first time.

"I took my time to get into each game, but I was particularly disappointed with the second," Barker told the official website www.britishopensquash.com . "You can't give him anything on his forehand, he just flattens it, so I started to play everything on my forehand, his backhand, and it worked.

"It was a tough match - but I'm absolutely delighted."

Barker will now face Gregory Gaultier, the third seed from France who was taken to four games by Barker's England team-mate Adrian Grant before winning 11-5, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8 in 69 minutes.

Defending champion Nick Matthew comfortably made it through to his third successive quarter-final with an 11-9, 11-5, 11-4 defeat of Malaysia's 14th seed Mohd Azlan Iskandar.

"I was really wary of Azlan, he's one of the fittest players on the tour and he's had a few good scalps - including me - recently, so I'm very happy to get off three-nil," said the 27-year-old from Sheffield who last year became the first Englishman for 67 years to win the sport's longest-established trophy,

"He also beat me 3/0 the next tournament after I won the British last year, so I was never going to take anything for granted!"

Matthew now faces his toughest test - against top seed Amr Shabana, the world number one from Egypt. The stylish left-hander defeated England's former world number one Lee Beachill 11-5, 2-11, 11-10 (4-2), 11-3.

Fifth seed James Willstrop became the last Englishman to win a place in the quarter-finals after beating Egypt's Karim Darwish 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9.

An all-English quarter-final clash will guarantee domestic interest in the last four in the women's event. England number one Tania Bailey needed four games to quash Dutch opponent Annelize Naude 9-4, 3-9, 9-1, 9-2 - and will now face England team-mate Vicky Botwright.

Botwright, the sixth seed from Manchester playing in front of a home crowd, despatched another England team-mate Jenny Duncalf 9-4, 9-5, 9-5.

Top seed Nicol David, the defending champion from Malaysia bidding to win her third successive crown, took 42 minutes to overcome England's unseeded Laura Lengthorn-Massaro 9-5, 9-6, 9-4. The in-form world number one will now take on USA's Manchester-born Natalie Grainger, the fifth seed.

Grainger, runner-up in 2004, is making the first appearance in the city of her birth since becoming a US citizen in February, then winning the Pan American Games gold medal for her new country in July. Grainger dismissed New Zealand qualifier Jaclyn Hawkes 9-5, 9-1, 9-1 in 28 minutes.

"I've been to the final before, it would be great to go one better and stand on that podium," said the former world number one from Washington DC.

Men's 2nd round:
[1] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [10] Lee Beachill (ENG) 11-5, 2-11, 11-10 (4-2), 11-3 (56m)
[6] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt [14] Mohd Azlan Iskandar (MAS) 11-9, 11-5, 11-4 (48m)
[3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt [13] Adrian Grant (ENG) 11-5, 11-9, 4-11, 11-8 (69m)
[12] Peter Barker (ENG) bt [7] Wael El Hindi (EGY) 9-11, 3-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 (72m)
[16] Ong Beng Hee (MAS) bt [8] Stewart Boswell (AUS) 11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9 (58m)
[4] Thierry Lincou (FRA) bt [11] Mohammed Abbas (EGY) 3-11, 11-3, 11-9, 8-11, 11-9 (60m)
[5] James Willstrop (ENG) bt [9] Karim Darwish (EGY) 11-5, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9 (65m)
[2] David Palmer (AUS) bt [15] Olli Tuominen (FIN) 11-10 (2-0), 11-5, 11-9 (43m)

Women's 1st round:
[1] Nicol David (MAS) bt Laura Lengthorn-Massaro (ENG) 9-5, 9-6, 9-4 (42m)
[5] Natalie Grainger (USA) bt [Q] Jaclyn Hawkes (NZL) 9-5, 9-1, 9-1 (28m)
[4] Tania Bailey (ENG) bt Annelize Naude (NED) 9-4, 3-9, 9-1, 9-2 (50m)
[6] Vicky Botwright (ENG) bt Jenny Duncalf (ENG) 9-4, 9-5, 9-5 (52m)
[8] Vanessa Atkinson (NED) bt Alison Waters (ENG) 9-7, 9-3, 9-6 (41m)
[3] Rachael Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Isabelle Stoehr (FRA) 9-5, 9-3, 5-9, 9-2 (51m)
[7] Madeline Perry (IRL) bt [Q] Lauren Briggs (ENG) 9-3, 9-4, 9-5 (48m)
[2] Natalie Grinham (AUS) bt [Q] Laura Mylotte (IRL) 9-4, 9-3, 9-4 (24m)